How Knowing Your Personality Type Will Help You Manage Your Team

As coaches, I think we all know that we’ve got different personality types on our team and I’m sure we’re all pretty conscious about how those personalities will interact. When we bring recruits on to campus and we sit down and chat with them, we wonder about their “fit” with our teams…how their personalities will mesh with the current players. Sometimes we don’t want to rock the boat and try to recruit like-minded players. Other times, we want to shake things up a bit…whether it’s bringing more toughness or more fun…we know that the team needs a different makeup.

But do you think that your team recognizes that some folks are just made differently than them…with a whole different perspective on things? I’ve used personality testing in the past with pretty good results, because the team gets to hear about themselves and also put the people that they know into categories. The testing is pretty informative and can help them with their relationships outside of their team as well.

There are lots of personality tests out there: Myers-Briggs, colors, animals, and DiSC…and that’s the one that I use. DiSC breaks the personalities down into four different categories.

D’s are dominant. They’re what folks would call Type A personalities. They like to get immediate results, make quick decisions and love to manage trouble and solve problems. They’re decisive and competitive…natural born leaders. That’s the good stuff. The down side to D’s are that they are too self-reliant, the one’s who hate group projects in the classroom (can you see how that could negatively impact your team?!), and can be so blunt that they’re hurtful to others.

i’s are your people of influence. They’re the one’s who everyone gravitates toward, the life of the party. They’re your players who will pull the team aside in practice and fire them up if they feel that the effort isn’t where it should be. They’re the folks who will immediately walk up to the newbies on your team and make them feel right at home. i’s just need to remember that life isn’t all play and no work…that they’ve got to get down to business at some point. And they try so hard to be everyone’s friend and not to hurt feelings that their teammates may not feel a true connection with them.

S’s are Steady Eddie’s. They’re quiet, but very loyal and love the teaminess of teams…the one’s who stay on your team even though they know that they’ll never get any playing time. They are skilled at calming an explosive situation and calming the scene down while others are freaking out. S’s need to learn to assert themselves in group situations so that their teammates don’t overlook their contributions. Since they can be overthinkers, S’s should learn the difference between the time for thinking and the time for acting.

C’s are your conscientious workers. They’ll drill all day long and never feel as if they’ve gotten it down…they’re perfectionists. C’s are good in the film room because they’re so analytical. Come game time, they’ll know the opponents tendencies without a doubt. Their downside is that they ask so many questions that they may drive their coach to drink! And they have such high standards for themselves and their teammates that they may be destined to fail.

As you were reading this, I’m sure you were thinking of your team and where they fit. Obviously, having a strong mix of folks is pretty key…but most important is that your team understands to positives and negatives of their personality and how they can be perceived by others. Also, it’s pretty huge for us coaches to know the rough mixes. Your D’s are going to think your i’s are screwing around too much and that your S’s need to toughen up. Your i’s will constantly get their team in trouble for getting practice off-track with their incessant yapping. Your S’s will either toughen up or continually get their feelings hurt by the too-blunt D’s and the hard-to-read C’s. Speaking of C’s, should you deign to change the lineup or change a play without significant notice, get ready for their world to be spun off kilter and they’ll be pretty useless to you for a few plays.

Do you use personality tests with your team? How do they respond? At what point in the season do you administer your test?

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